CORVALLIS -- It’s no secret that the No. 24 Oregon State football team is at its best when the brother act of James and Jacquizz Rodgers are producing big-time offensively, and the Beavers have done everything imaginable to get James and Jacquizz the ball. It’s paying off in multiple ways.

Ross William Hamilton/The OregonianThree weeks into the season, and James Rodgers leads the nation in all-purpose yards.

In Saturday’s 35-28 win over Louisville OSU lined up in the Wildcat formation -- it’s in the playbook as the “Wild Beaver” -- with Jacquizz taking a direct snap. But instead of taking off, Rodgers handed the ball to sophomore Markus Wheaton, who bolted 28 yards for a touchdown, just the second of his career.

“Wheaton’s probably one of the fastest guys on the team,” Rodgers said afterward. “If you can get him the ball in space, he’s gonna be hard to catch.”

Riley said on Saturday that the Beavers are likely to use that play more, and stressed that offensive production from everyone will be key to beating No. 3 Boise State on Saturday.

Special team advantage: James Rodgers’ play on special teams has been critical for the Beavers. He returned four kickoffs on Sunday for 161 yards -- include a 63-yard scamper in the second quarter -- and two punts for a total of 43 yards. Coupled with his receiving and rushing yards, Rodgers finished with 243 all-purpose yards.

“The thing that can tip the scales in games is special teams and we certainly did that,” Riley said. “Special teams gave us great field position all game. We won that battle and it was probably the difference.”

James Rodgers currently leads the country in all-purpose yards with a 226.5 average per game, and has 5,546 all-purpose yards in his career. He needs just 61 more to break Ken Simonton’s program record.

Too many penalties: OSU was hit with multiple penalty on Saturday but perhaps the strangest one came in the first quarter after tight end Joe Halahuni scored on a 3-yard pass from Ryan Katz.

Halahuni, a junior, made a chomping motion with his hand after scoring, and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, a 15-yard penalty that was enforced on the Beavers’ ensuing kickoff. Riley said he thought it was an “overreaction” by the officials and isn’t worried about excessive celebration becoming a regular occurance for the Beavers.

“The irony of that is that (former receiver) Shane Morales did that every time he scored,” Rileys said. “Frankly, in my opinion that’s a non-call. That’s not taunting.”

But other penalties must be cleaned up.

“I think offsides has to be corrected,” Riley said. “We’re jumping the gun on defense, putting them in better situations. We can’t do that.”

Injury update: Riley said that safety Dax Dilbeck is “very doubtful” for this weekend after injuring his knee, and that it’s possible he has a meniscus tear. He is schedule to have an MRI today. Dilbeck, a redshirt freshman, had to be helped off the field Saturday.

Left tackle Wilder McAndrews -- who started for the Beavers against TCU two weeks ago -- is still sick with the flu, and Riley said that defensive tackle Kevin Frahm was also feeling ill on Sunday.

A handful of players have been hit with the 24-hour flu bug, but it lasted longer for McAndrews; Riley said McAndrews hasn’t been able to eat much the past few days. Sophomore Michael Philipp, who started at left tackle last season, filled in for McAndrews Saturday.

“I thought he did a pretty darn good job,” Riley said of Philipp’s play. “I think there’s some things he can do better but overall I thought he did a good job.”